Beijing

In October, China has a holiday like our 4th of July, National Day.  Except it is for a whole week, called Golden Week.  Levin had most of the week off of work and the kids had the entire week off from school.  Brandon and I took the opportunity to travel to Beijing to visit my brother who lives there with his family.

It wasn't the best time to travel in China because in case you didn't know, there are a lot of Chinese people, and when the entire country has the week off, they travel.

We knew getting to the Forbidden City would be too crowded, so Randy drove me to a park where we climbed up a hill to the top with a small Buddha temple and we over looked into the Forbidden City.  You can tell from the picture that the pollution was pretty high that day.

Randy had a mask and one for me, but I didn't wear it too terribly much because I didn't have one for Brandon and somehow that made me feel guilty - like we should ruin our lungs together. It was a really nice view all the same although the pictures don't do it justice.

The Buddha statue was in this building here.  Guangzhou is such a new city - that I feel like it isn't as "Chinese" at all as Beijing so even seeing things like this made me feel so much more like Wow, I live in China!  It was a cool feeling.

Next we went to the Summer Palace.  This picture below makes it not look that crowded, but it was sooo crowded.

The river.  According to Randy not long ago you'd only see one or two boats, but now it is a way to earn money that others have caught on to and there were several boats.

This I took  just to show some of the beautiful art - Chinese art - that I don't see so much of in Guangzhou.  I was literally just holding up my phone to quickly snap pictures because there were so many people.  That and we had a lot to see because my trip wasn't very long.

This is the street outside the Summer Palace.  We miraculously got good parking, but still had to walk a tiny bit.  These short buildings here remind me so much more of what I imagine Chinese houses to look like in the novels I've read.

He took me to eat at a delicious restaurant called Din Tai Fung.  There is one in Guangzhou, but rumor has it they have been disenfranchised from the one in Beijing because they kept trying to add their Guangzhou flair to the menu.  Guangzhou is famous for their food and their food snobbery.  I actually haven't been to too many Chinese restuarants since moving here. This one was delightful.

A good little sport most of the time when we were out.  He started being grumpy when we were at Randy's home, but maybe that is because of all the moving about and constant waking up of his naps when it was time to get out at a new thing to see.  Two weeks later he's still grumpy, so I'm not sure what happened.  Maybe it was something we ate. Just kidding.

All the food was good, but this Bing Mangua was my favorite . . maybe . . it was all sooo good.  I plan to get to the one in Guangzhou soon.

Next we went to a Confucian temple.  Wikipedia says this was built in 1302 and is the second largest,the largest being in Confucias' hometown of Qufu.  I really liked it.  It was really large.

Next we went to a Buddhist temple.  I'd heard about the burning of incense, but I didn't realize it was in big metal drums like this.

There were too different styles of Buddha statues there.  This one below is the thin Buddha, more Indian style, and next door was the "fat Buddha" we traditionally think of when we picture Buddha - maybe from statues in Chinese restaurants.

We had to sit in traffic a long time to make this happen, but we drove past the Forbidden City just so I could see it better.  You can see how the air cleaned up by late afternoon compared to earlier that morning.  Across the street is Tienanmen Square, but I didn't get a good picture of that.  Traffic cleared up right as we got to the interesting stuff so we were going faster.

Sometimes when people do selfless things for me, I realize how much more selfless I need to be.  Randy stayed outside in the car with Brandon while I went to a Chinese Acrobat show.  I only had my phone and am not a great picture taker, but this act here, was my favorite.  The man hopped down these stairs on one hand, and then just as we're all impressed he hopped all the way back up.  I loved it!  After that we drove back to their home in the suburbs.

A different day we went to see the Great Wall of China.  We rode a ski lift up to the top.  I was wearing Brandon and I have to say, I felt a little uneasy.  It seemed a tad bit rickety but maybe because I was wearing Brandon so my center of gravity was slightly off or something, but it took all my nerves just to snap this picture and the rest of the ride I tried to figure out what I could do to save myself if the chair started breaking.

Randy and his oldest daughter Emma were my tour guides this day.  The Great Wall was crowded because of the holiday, but still very walkable.

To get down we could take the ski lift or a slide.  When we bought our tickets we made sure I could take the baby with me on the slide and the guy assured us we could.  When we got there though the guy said no.  But there was no way I was talking that scary ski lift down.  So Randy argued with teh guy and he said, okay then be careful.  As I was getting in he told Brandon that I was a "no goodie Mama" and showed me how when I pulled on the break I would hit Brandon's face on the break and he dang near did it!  Of course I didn't slam on the break that hard ever going down and I told the guy I'd go slow, "man man" down.  Luckily the people in front of me went slowly too so I wasn't holding up the whole line although I think Emma was a little disappointed at the speed we were going and I am sure the people behind her thought it was my fault, but oh well.  I didn't dare try to take any pictures after they already thought I was being so dangerous.
I had such a good time and the morning before I left I was feeling stressed out about the "grind of daily living" so it was the perfect time to take a vacation and seeing Randy, his wife Cherrie and family were perfect too as well as the sights. I had fun bowling with them and eating ice cream.  And talking with Randy and Cherrie about the joys and not so fun things of parenting.
 It was great seeing what their life in China is like and how it compares to our life.  In some ways I feel like they could be two separate countries.  They have a house, we have an apartment, they have a large grocery store really close by where they can get pretty much anything, I have to go out shopping or order groceries online, they have touristy things to do . . . we don't have so much, I had to wear a jacket there and I'm still wearing shorts here.
It was great to get to miss my other kids too and I was so glad Levin gave me those 4 days away.

Oh, and one other thing I got to do was try Peking Duck.  Randy had asked me if I wanted to try it and I said sure.  Then their friends invited them to go.  Cherrie doesn't care for it, so I went in her place.  The "friends" ended up being the FAS employee there that Levin and I know - Levin worked with him our first year back in DC before he started language training.  SO it was fun to talk to Abe and his family.  The Peking Duck was completely different than I expected, but not bad tasting.  It was just more . . . plain I guess than I expected.  I don't need to eat it again, but I wouldn't turn it down and could enjoy it if I had it again.  Something "interesting" is that they cut the duck meat off the bones to serve it to you, but I guess they still think the bones are yours so they boil them for you and give you that - OR you can request them fried which is what Abe did.
The rest of our meal was other things that were pretty authentic Chinese . . nothing to write home about . . . or blog about.  ha ha, but the first thing they brought out were just whole cucumbers and a sauce to dip them in.  It seemed strange, but was actually not bad.  I didn't get a picture, but I stole this one from Google Images.  Apparently it varies from place to place, and this is not exactly what ours looked like, but pretty close.  The duck has a thick layer of fat and skin which Abe taught us to dip in sugar, then the meat, and a sauce and few "fillers" you put in what I would call a tortilla. Maybe I'm just hungry, but it actually sounds pretty good right now.  Maybe I'll eat it again sooner than I thought.

Levin has been to farm that raised ducks for peking duck.  Unfortunately, the picture is on his Blackberry and I don't have it here, but when I googled an image for it - it took my appetite for Peking Duck away.  Maybe best not to think about that.

Mid-Autumn Festival

We had our first Chinese holiday last weekend.  It was mid-autumn festival and there were quite a lot of things going on.

These pictures I stole from Wikipedia, but they were the same pictures I saw at the kids school.

Tuesday the Mandarin teachers invited parents to come to their class.  A lot of the class was conducted in Chinese, but they told the story of the mid-autumn festival which is all about the moon.  If you, dear reader, are really curious you can look it up on Wikipedia like I had to because I didn't understand the Mandarin from the kids school. I guess in short, it is a harvest festival, but it is based upon the lunar calendar and this year it is still so hot in Guangzhou, it hardly reminds me of a harvest festival.
Our first "celebration" was the Friday before.  Autumn was invited to a little party.  She loved that it was mid AUTUMN.  This mom read stories.

 They colored pictures.  Autumn was in a rush to get to the next station making a moon cake out of play doh and she just scribbled pink all over hers.  I was shocked later when she said something about the story of mid-autumn festival.  I said, "how did you know that?!" She said, "remember my coloring page!"  I didn't even know she'd really looked at it.  I didn't get a picture of the play-doh moon cakes, but it was pretty cool.
These are moon cakes.  They are filled with a lot of different things.  At Autumn's party they then ate real moon cakes.  I only tried one which was filled with a carmel like substance and was through the roof sweet.  Autumn wanted more and that one was gone so I thought I'd play a little trick on her since she'd only had that and the chocolate one and I gave her the one with egg in it.  She didn't even notice.  She gobbled it up too.
Other popular moon cake flavors include red bean paste, lotus seed paste, and vegetable and fruit.  Levin brought one home that had a weird purple gummy filling.  I'm not really a fan.  Levin got a bunch at work that we gave to Jenny.
I remember something that you're supposed to eat your moon cakes in the dark the night of Mid-Autumn festival.

This is a picture from Mandarin class.  The teacher aka "lao shi Bai" had the kids get up in groups of 3 or 4 and sing a song.  They also acted out the story of the festival and played a few games.  I wasn't sure if the kids were really learning much because sometimes it seems like they learn a little tune, but had no idea what number was what, they just kind of new the sounds.  But today Jenny was playing with Brandon and was counting to five with him and Oliver runs over and counted up to twenty in Chinese.  It won't be long now before they are translating for me . . actually that'd be pretty awesome.

After Chinese class we went downstairs to look at all the lanterns with riddles.  I actually thought what Wikipedia said about this was really interesting so I'll post it.

A notable part of celebrating the holiday is the carrying of brightly lit lanterns, lighting lanterns on towers, or floating sky lanterns.^[1] Another tradition involving lanterns is to write riddles on them and have other people try to guess the answers (simplified Chinese: 灯谜; traditional Chinese: 燈謎; pinyin: dēng mí; literally: "lantern riddle").^[10]

It is difficult to discern the original purpose of lanterns in connection to the festival, but it is certain that lanterns were not used in conjunction with moon-worship prior to the Tang Dynasty.^[5]Traditionally, the lantern has been used to symbolize fertility, and functioned mainly as a toy and decoration. But today the lantern has come to symbolize the festival itself.^[5] 

 On Wednesday the three little kids and I walked back to the school for the lantern parade. All the kids made lanterns in art class.  They vary depending upon skill levels for the different ages.  Oliver was so excited for this.  The day of he didn't hold his lantern up to where you could see it until I told him to . . so he did . . after he was almost past me. So this is all I got for pictures.

 Leah was a little more accommodating.  Here she is with a girl I don't know, and our downstairs neighbor, Akshita, who is probably her best friend, but they both have a lot of friends.  I love Akshita because she pops up and down between our apartments after school, but she is relatively quiet, super nice to Lance and Autumn, and well behaved and doesn't ever wear out her welcome.  She does run home scared if there is thunder and I find that pretty adorable.

 Afterwards I took the little kids to eat my kind of moon cakes . . . . muffins from Starbucks.  Our island has pretty much no retail, but right by the school is a Starbucks and I'd been wanting to visit it and this seemed like a good day to do it.  Looking at that blueberry  muffin and iced hot chocolate makes me want to go again.  Yummy!  Much better than bean paste moon cakes, I assure you. I know from experience.

 Oliver's class with their lanterns.

*Just a little "Melissa moment" to share.  I didn't realize until Autumn's little activity was over that it was a play group for members of the Guangzhou Women's International Club . . of which I didn't join.  It costs too much money for a lady with 3 kids at home who can't join many activities.  It was limited to only 10 kids, the first 10 kids who RSVP'd.  My friend had added me to the WeChat group when I first arrived and I never clicked what the group was for until that day when several people didn't live at our apartment complex . . . . oops!  I hope there weren't other kids that wanted to go and missed their chance.  It was an innocent mistake on my part.

Lance's BFF

Before we moved to China I noticed a friend of my friend from Moscow posting something on Facebook about China.  What do you know, she lived in Guangzhou, the city we were moving to.  I sent Jen countless questions about China and she answered all of them.  And oh how I loved her for it.  When I met her in real life a few weeks after moving to Guangzhou (they were on vacation in the U.S. when we first arrived) I felt like I already knew her.
Even more amazing is that she had a kid matched up with most of my kids.  Their baby is between Brandon and Lance in age.  

Here below are Leah and her good friend Maddy and Oliver and his good friend . . . wait for it . .. Oliver!  Leah and Maddy aren't in the same grade at school, but are in Primary at church.  Oliver and Oliver got different teachers but are in the same Mandarin class.

Somehow I never got a picture of Autumn and her buddy Lucy.  They get along so amazingly well.  On my birthday we had the Allens over and all 3 sets of friends disappeared and we never heard a peep.  They all just played!

This picture was taken a week earlier at a restaurant area at/near their housing complex.  Look at Oliver's face - no one has ever said my kids don't have personality.

So you'd think Lance would be left out - but his match up is actually  my favorite.  Look at Lance's face and that should tell you everything!  Hannah is AMAZING!  Hands down one of my favorite girls ever . . and then add on top of that that she plays with Lance and well . . . she's well . . I don't have words to say how much I love it.  She honestly seems to enjoy playing with him and he loves playing with her.  They are an amazing pair!

Birthdays In China

Happy Birthday to me!  Brandon wanted a little cake action and reached right into my cake.  If you watch Master Chef you'll know what it means when Levin said, "I really put myself on a plate."  Yummy cake!  This wasn't the only cake we had . . . but it was the only pictured cake.

Our apartment complex gives everyone a gift on their birthday.  For Autumn they brought this cute bird.  Imagine my surprise a few weeks later when I was at the reception office and saw Autumn right there on the bulletin board.  I noticed all the adults got wine.  So on my birthday when they asked if they could bring me a gift I knew it'd be wine.  They made a really big deal about getting Autumn's picture with her gift and now I knew why. I was pretty nervous about getting my wine anyway.  I'd decided not to decline it because that'd make the employee who was just doing their job feel awkward.  I was nervous however about having a picture of the Mormon lady with all the kids having a picture of herself with a bottle of wine.  But happily, they didn't even ask for a picture! Crisis averted.  

I don't know if we did the right thing or not, but we poured the wine down the toilet - we did let all the kids have a sniff first.  I remember when people would talk about "you can smell he's been drinking" when I was a kid and for a long (really long) time having no idea what smell they were talking about.  So I guess I thought knowledge is power . . . and let my kids have a whiff.  Leah said, "oh, smells like Grandma Flake's sour dough bread."

Lance Finally Gets His Roller Coaster

We got Lance his birthday present before we moved.  We let him and the kids ride it about two times each . . maybe a few more.  Then we packed it up - put it in a pile for the movers and later said goodbye to it for two months.  When we got our shipment Levin built it and Lance rode it over and over and over. This video is probably his 20th time and he still loved it and went down many more times.

My sister-in-law has one of these and my kids have always loved it when we visit.  When we saw pictures of our apartment here in China a light bulb went off in Levin's head that this was the perfect house for something like this.  And it sure is!  Well, I'm not sure our downstairs neighbors agree . . . .But we do!

Family Photo Shoot

I don't know why I waited until now to post these, but I just realized I never did.  I wanted some family pictures before we moved from Maryland.  We didn't have time to book a professional, so we used the next best thing - Levin's Dad and Levin.  I wanted to remember our home in Maryland also . . . our rusty barn roof and all.  Maybe that wasn't such a good idea . . but it is what it is and hey, we didn't hire a professional.

 This picture isn't the one we chose to hang on our wall, but I love it.  It is so . . .  Leah.

 This is the one we hung on the wall . . . she looks so grown up in it!

 And these ones are included just to remind us of Leah's fun personality.

 She wanted one of her twirling.

 This one is to remind me of what a hard time Autumn had looking at the camera.  We'd promised the kids Rita's if they were good and Autumn was trying so hard . . . but not looking at Levin.

 This one below I made large because look at those eyes!  No photoshopping here folks . . . I don't know how.  Her eyes amaze me sometimes.

 Trying soo hard . . . . but even though it was an overcast day she had to look up a little at Levin and was looking right into the sun.

 Once I realized that we had Levin get lower and so she didn't have to look at the sky.  Here is my beautiful girl!  I was just so proud of Autumn because she was trying so hard to be good and not complain.

 The best one we could get of a 6 week old baby who still can't hold his head up.

 Brandon says, "please stop!"

 I was the most worried about getting Lance to smile . . . first picture and he nailed it!  Oh gosh he's cute!

 I love this one . . . minus my fingers i the picture.  I know I edited this once . . but I can't find that one and I just want this posted.  So  . . . here you have them.  The wonderful Flake kids!